Day Off
by RazzDazz
Summary: “At the rate you’re going, if you don’t change you’d die young.” It was precise assessment of how uptight he was by the rigid way he had led his life… KASANODA x HARUHI


**A/N: Dear Readers, this is my 3rd Kasa/Haru fanfic. I decided to make it lighter this time since my previous two offerings were somewhat dark, depressing and bittersweet. I decided to play around with this interesting character. Kasanoda's a character with lots of potential to entertain and fun to write. Again, it's post Ouran, slightly OOC with OCs, different scenario and one-shot with subjective ending. As always, thank you for reviewing and I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it.**

Japanese wrestling was one of his favourite past times. It was a manly sport. The heavyweight Sumo wrestlers never bowed to the heat from the Yakuzas for a fixed game. They were an authority of their own. They were a strong society in their own right. That was why he was there amongst the crowd of fans cheering their favourite Sumo wrestlers. Takeda Harada was the top Sumo wrestler in Japan. Hot on his heels was the up and coming rising star, Toshio Fukunaga.

On stage they were the deadliest of enemies but off stage they were on friendly terms. It was ironic because their wives weren't. Harada's wife was from his 'family' but no one knew that. If ever people found out, his career would be destroyed. Society weren't lenient with anyone associated with the underworld. Even though he was clean but because of his indirect tie to a woman from one of the feared 'families' in Japan would mean the end of his shining career.

Harada had nothing to do with the underworld. Ritsu Kasanoda made sure nothing would implicate Harada to them that could cut short the wrestler's livelihood. Yet, he would always get free tickets from Harada to watch his wrestling matches. Usually, he would decline politely and distribute the tickets to his men. The slightest appearance would be disastrous to Harada.

But, today he felt he needed to be at the wrestling arena as a fan to Japan's famous wrestler. Today, he wanted to just enjoy himself watching his favourite Sumo wrestler in action. Today, he would not bother himself solving perpetual issues from the underworld. Today, he wanted to have a relaxing day off with his 'nakamas.' Today, he would just be plain Ritsu, the Sumo wrestling fan.

He applied hair gel onto his hair, styling it in such a way giving it a wet look and wore khaki cargo pants, black army boots, black V-necked tee and a maroon vest. His driver was ready with the Mercedes S-class but he waved his hand indicating that wasn't the vehicle he wanted for his ride. Instead he rode a Kawasaki super bike with his assistant as passenger.

Tetsuya looked cool wearing army green patched pants, hiking boots, light brown round necked sleeveless tee with a crème coloured short-sleeved shirt as the top. He tied his blond long straight hair with a leather strip at the nape. There was one thing that made his assistant looked less cool. He was afraid of speed. It didn't surprise him that the poor fellow hugged his waist as he held on for dear life.

"Aniki, please slow down." His assistant rasped, "I feel sick."

"Tetsu," Ritsu laughed while applying more speed as he sped through the red light, "Where's your sense of adventure?"

"Aniki, there wouldn't be any adventures left if we died in a horrible crash!" Tetsuya wailed gripping Ritsu tightly.

"For a man who's feared for his fast and deadly attacks as the Striking Snake, you're acting like a high school girl on her first date." Ritsu laughed heartily as he teased Tetsuya. It felt so good to laugh and to be carefree if only for a day.

In his Ouran past, he visited the third floor music room that was born out of need to relieve his loneliness. Yet as he spent his time there, he realised that he also needed to better himself. Not that he wanted to become the princes charming. It was more of self-discovery. What better coaches than the princes charming themselves! The snapping of Tamaki Suou's elegant lean fingers brought the fashion conscious and experts, Hiitachin twins to his side while assessing the pros and cons to his demeanor.

The result of their analysis was zero. The cons were too many and they either shadowed or ruined his pros. Still, they managed to transform the beast into a beauty. The first thing the twins told him to get rid of was that silly pink plastic hair band with cat ears on it. He reminded them, it was Hikaru who gave him that hair band to have his messy hair sorted out. He got his nose pinched for that.

Styling gel, wax, or mousse would make for a better choice to tame his wild hair into anything they wanted. They presented him with a wind swept ruffled look. They all agreed that the style suited him well with his red hair. He had excellent height and posture through vigorous and rigorous martial arts training. He should fit into anything they created for him. The problem was his fearsome face, speech and mannerism. It was a definite 'no-no' to look at people as if he wanted to devour them whole.

It was a sure giveaway to his background if he curled his upper lips in feral manner and growled at people who stared because they were shocked. He was advised to rub his facial muscles to loosen the tight ligaments. His eyes, and mouth were the most important features, besides his teeth that people would look at. The twins peered closer at him making him uncomfortable with their devilish knowing looks they passed at each other.

But, they weren't planning anything nasty, since they weren't playing any tricks on him. Still whenever he looked for Haru-chan for some comfort because he felt they were up to no good that was when Mori-senpai (his idol!) would contradict him with just a look which said, "Look at who's up to no good." He would clamp up because well, Mori-senpai was right.

A man has got to endure whatever that was being thrown at him. He must know how to deal with setbacks, find out who contrived the problems or determine what were the drawbacks to his success, and when to get even. Not go running to others for help. He got it now. Mori-senpai had given him an indirect lesson on how to become a man's man. Now, he was ever determined to learn from Mori-senpai the art of meaningful looks.

"Bossa-kun, your first task everyday starting tonight would be to practice little smiles." Kaoru Hiitachin declared the first task.

It was a tough solution to follow because the facial muscles were harder than rocks. "Hae!" He nodded than his eyes blazed, "Lil…W-wh-WHAT?!" He bellowed, his hands akimbo. Veins of aggravation popped on his forehead and throat.

"Tsk-tsk," Hikaru eyeballed him, "Please, don't say 'hae'. It's taboo. Remember, you're in the company of… hmm, well-bred commoners." Hikaru shifted his gaze to Haru-chan who was busy preparing commoner's coffee for Tamaki's customers. "That's the second task you need to practice on is to shave off those kind of words when in the company of polite society."

Tamaki and Kyoya had to entertain the twins' customers because they were coaching him on finesse. Ritsu gulped his anxiety. No, it wouldn't look good. He inhaled deeply and nodded as a sign that he understood and agreed to anything they would teach him to become half as good as the princes charming. Out of the blue, Haru-chan came by with a hand mirror. He held it up to Ritsu for him to look at his reflection.

"What do you see?" Haru-chan asked him with his soft brown yet piercing the soul eyes.

The person reflected in the mirror had a ruthless look on him. It was like looking at a demonic ghost warrior from the Heian era. It showed a tormented beast in chains. The fact that the harsh reflection gave a true self-representation made him realise how uptight he was by the rigid way he had led his life.

Haru-chan put a hand on his shoulder, "At the rate you're going, if you don't change you'd die young."

He stared at Haru-chan, as realisation seeped into his brain. He had hit the nail on Ritsu's head with a long sentence yet gruesome prediction that sent chills down his spine. It would not be of a lethal stab wound to the gut or bullets from an Uzi that made holes on your body with one bullet puncturing your heart. But how you led your life.

Haru-chan was right in his bland perceptiveness that had revealed a crucial element that would change his life slowly, steadily. Haru-chan was better at making him realise the error of his ways and that life was how you make of it. If you did good, than you would not regret anything even if it didn't go as well as you thought it would.

Now that he had taken their advice, it was up to him to make good out of his social etiquette training. He also gave the other two tickets to Itou and Yuza because he knew they would appreciate this gift more than anything as the two were wrestling buffs. He told them to wear something presentable as not to arouse any suspicion. They would meet at the entrance to the arena's front seats. He felt happy when gardening. But this was just as good. It put a wide smile on his face. Since he was born with a frightening face, it was just as frightening for his men to see such a change as well as it being a pleasant miracle.

Gone was his fearsome look that froze foes at fifty paces. Gone was the demonic aura that could freeze foes at a hundred paces. In its place was a look that made women go, "Is he a new celebrity?" or "Who is he?" or "What a dream boat!" The wrestling complex was crowded when they arrived. They got off the bike after parking it about two blocks from the complex. They walked towards the complex, and were joined by Itou and Yuza. People gawked at them because they looked like handsome J-rock artistes.

Actually, they looked better than J-rock artistes! Ritsu gave them a look that his men would immediately understand, which said, "We're in public, so behave." The ticketing officer was a young woman who practically melted as Ritsu gave her a beguiling half smile and nodded politely as he presented the four tickets. She tore them in half and gave the other half in a dazed manner to him. The other two guys did the same as Ritsu, giving her an award winning smile and politely nodded at her.

Yuza was a bit more impish in his approach. He winked at her and she saw stars. They entered the complex. Itou and Yuza bought food and drinks while Ritsu and Tetsuya searched for their seats. Tetsuya motioned them over and the two sat with four bags filled with food and drinks.

Tetsuya scoffed, "Are you planning to camp here tonight?"

"Stranger things have happened." Itou shrugged nonchalantly giving him two cans of Coke, one to be passed to Ritsu.

Ritsu laughed again, clearly it changed his facial appearance from fearsome to handsome. A few ladies sitting next to him seemed to sway to his side. Yuza seeing this immediately came between them. No one was to touch waka-sama, no matter how attractive he'd become. He on the other hand would be more than glad to have his body groped at. Ritsu let his men do whatever pleased them since it was their day off. But within the accepted norm of society not anything that might complicate matters for them.

"Excuse me," Came a polite yet shy girl selling candy, cookies and cakes standing in front of Ritsu, she handed him a brown envelope, "The lady sitting at the box asked me to give you this." She bowed and left not before turning around giving Tetsuya a shy smile. Tetsuya's face reddened and gave her a brief nod in response.

"This brown card again." Yuza commented, "Who's this mysterious person?"

"She's not that mysterious if she's sitting at the VIP's box." Itou retorted, while munching rice crackers.

Ritsu's eyes zoomed at the VIP box to find senpais Takashi Morinozuka and Mitsukuni Haninozuka looking at someone while talking about something. He hadn't a doubt that Morinozuka and Haninozuka could acquire the box since they were martial arts masters in their own fields. He was also sure that the person seated in between them was Haru-chan…hmmm, Haruhi Fujioka. He quickly unsealed the envelope and took out the card. He was surprised that she'd carry those brown cards with her everywhere she went.

"Is this the person you were telling me about nine years ago?" Tetsuya enquired gently, glancing at Ritsu who was staring at the opened brown card.

His response to his assistant's question was a smile. His features softened for a brief moment and that was enough to make the ladies who witnessed it to sigh. His men pressed closer to look at the contents in the card. They too smiled and understood why their waka-sama loved the sender of this card.

"You did it! You look great! And it did you a world of good to unwind once in a while. I'm proud of you."

Tetsuya, Itou and Yuza saw the mysterious lady in the VIP box and silently noted that she was quite pretty with shoulder length dark brown hair and was slender. She was just right for their waka-sama.

Ritsu gazed at the VIP box again. This time he wasn't disappointed. Haru-chan happened to glance his way and she smiled at him. He could be imagining it but was that… interest lingering in that smile of hers? Couldn't be… could it? No! That's just too far-fetched and impossible… Then again, as Itou said, stranger things have happened…


End file.
